Various Artists - Sunset of a Clown

Various Artists - Sunset of a Clown
Ah, youth. They either spend their time doing their best to mimic their forefathers, or ignore them altogether. Be thankful that the trio of producers who make up the first release for Clown and Sunset went for the latter, as it's a 12-inch that is as uncommon as it is uncommonly beautiful.

The only name here that may be recognizable to RA readers is Nicolas Jaar, a Wolf + Lamb associate who still can't buy a drink in the States legally. His contribution to the platter is a track that somehow mixes Can's cosmic feel, a sampled Hindi singer and Blind Willie Johnson's lyrics to "John the Revelator." Is it Johnson himself? Maybe. It doesn't matter much, though, as Jaar transposes the intensity into a sharply focused organ and snare-led groove. Forget about minimal, deep house or dub techno. This is something altogether different.

So is Soul Keita's "Jude Nelson Is a Bassist," which is the most straightforward thing on offer, riding elegant keys and a bassline that creeps out from under them. It stops and it starts often, but it somehow maintains its sense of inertia throughout, pulling everything together for a Japanese koto that tops things off. The koto's delicate tones aren't found in Nikita Quasim's "L'amour L'après Midi" but everything else delicate is: Blurry piano, indistinct vocals, lots of field recording atmosphere: It kicks things off on this EP brilliantly, letting you know once you enter into the world of Clown and Sunset, you better be prepared to leave your preconceptions behind.